Working with assets that are stored in the Production Zone folder of Elvis 5

When an asset is moved from Elvis to Enterprise, it can be stored in various ways in Elvis and Enterprise. (See Controlling how Elvis assets are used in Enterprise 10.)

When the 'variant' method is used, each time an asset is moved from Elvis to Enterprise, the original asset is copied in Elvis and then linked to a shadow object in Enterprise. The copy in Elvis is stored in a dedicated folder named the 'Production Zone' folder. Multiple Production Zone folders can exist, for example one for each Brand.

Special assets

From a user's perspective, the assets in this Production Zone folder are like assets in any other folder in Elvis and can therefore also be moved to Enterprise.

From the perspective of Enterprise though, these assets in the Production Zone folder are special: Enterprise knows that they have originally been copied in Elvis and that a shadow object exists for these assets in Enterprise.

Moving an asset from the Production Zone folder

Because of the special status in Enterprise of the assets in the Production Zone folder, moving an asset from that folder to Enterprise will not by default create a copy of the file. Instead, Enterprise recognizes that the asset already exists as a shadow object and will simply make that same shadow object available once more.

Example: Asset A is moved from Elvis to Dossier A in Enterprise. In Elvis, a copy of Asset A is created and placed in the Production Zone folder. In Enterprise, a shadow object of Asset A in the Production Zone folder is created and added to Dossier A. This is the file that the user works with. Next, asset A in the Production Zone folder is moved to Dossier B in Enterprise. This time, no new copy is created in Elvis. Instead, the shadow object that already exists in Enterprise is added to Dossier B.

Note the difference in the above example: 

• In step 1 a copy of the asset is created. As a user, you can be sure therefore that when editing the file the original asset is not affected.
• In step 2, no copy is created. Editing the file in Dossier B also affects the file in Dossier A because they are the same file.

So even though an asset is moved from Elvis to Enterprise in the same way, the outcome is not the same because for one method the asset was moved from the Production Zone folder.

Note: This scenario can easily happen in any workflow. Think for example of an image that is first moved from Elvis to Enterprise for use in an article and then moved once more (but this time from the Production Zone folder) to be used on the cover. The image for the cover is typically modified, but this also affects the image that is used in the story (because they are the same image).

Alternative working methods

To make sure that you are working with a unique asset and not with an asset that is also used elsewhere, use one of the following methods:

• Never move assets that are stored in the Production Zone folder to Enterprise. Instead, locate the original asset in Elvis and move it once more to Enterprise. This way, a new copy of the file is added to the Production Zone folder in Elvis and in Enterprise a new shadow object is created.
• For images only (requires Enterprise Server 10.1.3 or higher): Configure Enterprise Server to make sure that each time an image is moved from the Production Zone folder to Enterprise, a copy is created in the Production Zone folder in Elvis and a new shadow object is created in Enterprise. For information about how to do this, see Controlling how Elvis assets are used in Enterprise 10.

Tip: There are various ways of seeing if an asset is already used in Enterprise, for example by using the 'Used in' panel in the Elvis Pro client. For more information, see Verifying how an Elvis 5 asset is used in Enterprise 10.